Visions
by okh-eshivar
Summary: Mystique/ Destiny. Raven tries to protect Irene from heself as she suffers through a particularly violent prophecy.R&R lovies!


Hold on. Just hold on. Fight it, Irene. Fight it. Push it away.

She was thrashing violently, seized in the moment of the vicious fortelling. Fingernails prim and manicured dug deep trenches into the shifter's back and arms, drawing blood. The room smelt of heavy copper and fear. Raven clenched her teeth together in a containing snarl and maintained her position over the precognitive, both hands holding her head to her chest protectively and her legs pinning the delicate woman's waist to the carpet.

_"__Відійди від __них__, __ви__вбивць__...__Ви вб'єте__їх__… __Це__діти__, __вони__тільки__діти__, __вони__нічого не зробили__...__" _She was mumbling within her furious throws, in a language Raven did not recognize.

Her voice began to rise tempestuously, until the vague mutters exploded into biting screams._"__Зупиніть __це__...__Стоп__! __Зупинити__його__! __Ви__лохи__!"_ Her fingers buried themselves even deeper into soft blue flesh, curling back skin and muscle with no regard or acknowledgement. It felt like someone was shredding her back with a vegetable peeler, slowly and torturously. She bit back a yell.

"Wake up, Irene. Come on," she growled, clutching her closer as her unconscious body struggled against her grip. Teeth sunk into her left shoulder, and in shock and blunt, piercing pain, Raven let go. Digits were ripped from her back as she stumbled backwards. The prophet's hands turned on herself then, ripping into the skin of her arms. _"__Припини__це__! __Стоп__! __Боже__, будь ласка, __зупиніться__! __Стоп__! __Стоп__! __СТОП__!__"_

Raven hesitated for only a moment, back screaming and shoulder bleeding profusely from the perfect elliptical outline of teeth, before she lunged at her lover again, this time pinning her self-harming hands on either side of her.

"Irene, stop it! You're hurting yourself!" She cried desperately. It was worse than usual this time.

The woman beneath her struggled and screamed back at her with blind rage, white eyes lit with misdirected hatred. _"__Lâche! __Vous__pathétique,__prétexte__faibles__d'une personne!__Vous ne serez jamais__les sauver!__Ils sont morts!__Vous êtes déjà mort !__"_

French. She recognized that one. Irene laughed malignantly, curled brown hair tossing wildly as she threw her head around in a bout of crazed glee. Fear pierced Raven's mind then. Had she broken finally?

No. Fight it. FIGHT IT. From her shoulders she grew two new arms, blossoming from her flesh, and clutched her thrashing head to her body again.

"Listen," she whispered into the woman's ear gently. "Listen to me, Irene. Listen to my voice. Follow me back." Her words were soft, guiding, loving. Irene fought her as she did before, teeth buried in blue again. Raven held back her agony and focused only on maintaining her calm tone. "Follow me home, Irene. Listen. _Listen_." Her cobalt arms struggled only slightly against those murderous hands, keeping them pinned. Her fingers were thoroughly coated in sticky blood, as was her mouth and chin now. Raven tangled her fingers in her mane of amber hair, caressing the back of her head and holding her close.

"…_écoutez ... écoutez__...__" _Irene began to whisper quietly, stuttering out the words into Raven's bloody shoulder. Yes. Listen…Listen…

"That's it, love. Follow my voice. Come back to me." The precognitive began to tremble in her grasp, arms finally ceasing their fight, body unraveling from its impossibly tense position. Salty tears trailed from her blind eyes slowly.

"R…Raven…"

"It's alright, you're alright. Come back to me." She clenched her illuminating yellow eyes tightly, wishing she could prevent this pain, this suffering. "Come home."

And as if some great bird took flight from her body, Irene heaved up for a moment, holding in a deep breath, before exhaling. Upon that powerful sigh, she went limp.

Raven pulled her face from her shoulder, hoping to whatever greater power was out there that this frenzy had finally been relinquished. "Irene...?"

The other woman groaned lightly, slowly peeling her eyes open. Raven withdrew the hands holding down her arms down and smiled in a distressed way. "Raven…?"

"Thank god. You're finally back."

"I…I am?" She ran bloody fingertips over Raven's face, feeling for that familiar form. "I…I was so lost. I've never felt anything that powerful before. I didn't think I could find my way out…" Her hand wandered, tracing the line of her neck, down to the shifter's wounded shoulder, sliding through the slick crimson and the shredded flesh. Raven moaned sharply and snatched her digits away nervously.

"What is it? Are you hurt?" She was impossibly calm now, beckoning with that velvety, sweet voice of hers.

"No, it's…" she paused. "….it's just a scratch." The lines in her back burned with the fire of agony. She swallowed her pain in favor of holding the other woman closer and brushing a delicate kiss over her sweat slicked forehead. Irene wrapped her weak arms around her, brushing the wet, inflamed trenches with open palms. "…You're such a sweet liar," she retorted softly with a sorrowful smile, eyebrows furrowed tightly together. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not bad at all."

"I can smell the blood. And taste it."

"You bit your tongue, love. That's all."

"But you're crying." She was? Irene brought a hand to her face again, brushing passed the line of water on her cheek. The shifter hadn't even noticed.

"So are you," Raven whispered back. She only then became conscious of the suffocating lump in her throat. She bit her lower lip in an attempt to contain herself.

After a few moments of silence, Raven dismounted the weak woman and scooped her up gently, an arm behind her back and at the crook of her knees. The bedroom door swung open with little resistance. The shifter lowered her onto the plush surface, sweeping a loving hand over her face.

"I'm going to get you a cloth to clean yourself up with."

She sat up weakly. "Why is there blood on my hands? And my face?" Raven held her breath and paced to the washroom, running a cloth under hot water. The warmth calmed her slightly.

"You were scratching at yourself again. And…" She returned with a small bowl of steaming water and the cloth. "…you bit your tongue, remember?"

"Are you lying to me?" she hummed absently. Raven placed the hot cloth directly into the other woman's hands. She rubbed her cheeks with it, stripping the tacky fluid from her face and fingers. Raven remained silent at the inquiry.

"Darling," she whispered, lifting Raven's chin with a warm digit. _Darling._ Such a soothing word when it came from her. She took the dirty fabric from her and dipped it into the bowl, squeezing out the filth of her own blood.

"It isn't important, love. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay." She took a lithe, pale hand in her own, kissing each digit, before brushing her lips over those of the precognitive ever so slightly. "…I love you." She didn't know what possessed her to say it, but she had to.

"Oh darling," she breathed with that mysterious smile. "I know you do. I have no doubt." She took the shifter's face between two caressing hands tenderly and brought their lips together again, this time more passionate, more forceful. Raven fought to keep her in this world today, Irene knew it already. She knew she was vicious to her, knew she had fought and bit and scratched with all her might. She could feel it beneath her fingernails, writhing in the nerves of her teeth, the nasty words still stuck crudely to the roof of her mouth. Raven grasped at her, pulling them closer. She could smell the residual pain as it drowned in their loving embrace, taste the fear on her lover's tongue, in the contours of her mouth. More tears ran from her tawny eyes then; Irene wiped them away with adoration and affection.

"I love you, too. I will love you until the day I die." It wouldn't be for another 68 years, but she knew. Her last thought would be of this night, in a tangle of limbs and hot passion, and her last breath would be a soft, contented sigh.

_**A/N: I love this couple, I'm sure that's clear from my archive :3 I always wondered if anything like this ever happened. I might make a few comics pages for it, if anyone is interested. **_

_**I adore reviews. They make my day. So if you liked it, I would absolutely love to hear from you 3**_


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